Marc's Blog

Marc's Blog

Pizzo argues that liberals are flummoxed by the issue of immigration and losing ground by being overly politically correct. He says our focus should be on common-sense regulations and enforcement.

Facing Up to the Immense Challenge of Immigration Reform
By Stephen PizzoÂ

Traditional conservative, William F. Buckley was once asked how he would describe a â€œliberal.â€ He thought for moment, his snake-like tongue darting about just behind open lips, then spoke.

â€œA liberal is someone who over-waters their house plants.â€

Ouch! That hurt. Because he was right. I knew exactly what he meant. Why would a liberal over-water a house plant? Because they were mean? No. Quite the opposite. They were just trying to help. Because liberals are nice people â€” sometimes too nice. Liberals have over-developed empathy glands. When a liberal tells you he or she â€œfeels your pain,â€ they mean it â€” even if at that particular moment youâ€™re not feeling it.

Now, before you jump all over me, Iâ€™m a liberal. (Well, a social liberal anyway, though I tend to be more conservative when it comes to things like balancing the federal checkbook.) But on social issues Iâ€™m right there â€” choice for women, equality for everyone and more than a little suspicious about what the domestic Axis of Evil â€” corporate/political/media nexus â€” are up to.

But, just as conservatives always go too far with their proclivities, so too do liberals. And for both, that is always their downfall. We are coming to the end – whew! â€” of a conservative cycle and just beginning the next liberal cycle. Be assured, it too will inevitably end in excess. But maybe we can avoid some obvious mistakes early on.

Which is why I am risking the ire of the liberal/progressive community to speak frankly about immigration reform. I know the war in Iraq is currently consuming almost all the available attention â€” and rightfully so. But there are other festering wounds on Americaâ€™s body-politic that require immediate attention, and one of the biggest is immigration.